The New Jersey General Assembly passed a bill earlier this week – by a vote of 51 to 25 – that would require certain large-scale generators to separate organics if they are within 25 miles of an authorized recycling facility. The bill (A3726) directly followed requests made by Gov. Phil Murphy in a conditional veto of a prior iteration.
Murphy’s veto requested the removal of language that deemed landfills with gas-to-energy systems and incinerators (that used anaerobic digestion within four years) to be authorized destinations. Murphy also requested new language requiring any area recyclers be notified if generators seek disposal waivers.
A corresponding bill (S1206) must now be taken up for a vote by the New Jersey Senate, which only has a handful of scheduled meetings left before its current session ends Jan. 14, 2020. This item has yet to appear on the Senate calendar and its original sponsor, state Sen. Bob Smith, could not be reached for comment.
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About those half-empty paint cans that have been languishing in your garage for years: Do you put them in the trash, fill them with kitty litter and take them to the local dump, or just empty the contents down the drain?
The answer should be “none of the above,” according to supporters of a bill that was approved by a large bipartisan majority, 57 to 20, in the Assembly on Monday, is now headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and then, backers hope, to the governor’s desk.
Bill A-4382 would boost the reuse and recycling of unwanted architectural paint by starting a collection program funded by a fee charged on every can of paint. It aims to boost the current rate of collection by towns and counties, which currently pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to dispose of the material.
And it would require producers, distributors and retailers of paint to participate in an “architectural paint stewardship program” as approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. The bill defines architectural paint as any interior coating that’s sold in cans of five gallons or less; the definition excludes industrial or specialty coatings.
“Paint recycling is a huge problem,” said Dennis Hart, executive director of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, a trade group that represents paint manufacturers. “Everybody in this state and across the country has cans of paint in their basement or garage. They don’t know what to do with it; they either leave it there or try and pawn it off on the next homeowner, or they throw it in the trash and it ends up in the environment.”
The bill requires every paint producer or its representatives to develop and implement a stewardship plan that promotes reuse and recycling by arranging for collection, transportation, burning for energy recovery, and disposal using environmentally sound practices.
“We think it’s a good step forward,” said Hart. “It’s an industry-supported program that says: ‘We want to be proactive in managing the product cradle to grave.’”
A per-gallon fee
Hart said 10 other states plus the District of Columbia have already begun similar programs and have so far collected some 40 million gallons of paint, 85% of which has been reused. The fee that would pay for the program is expected to be 75-85 cents a gallon in the first year, when the volume of paint collected is likely to be greatest, he said. (The purchaser of the paint pays the fee.) After an initial rush of paint collections, DEP will review the fee to see if it’s the correct amount, Hart said.
The money would be used to pay the costs of private haulers or — if they choose to participate — local government agencies, who would be relieved of the current expense that’s borne by taxpayers, Hart said. The bill requires that the charge would not exceed the cost of running the stewardship program. DEP would also be paid for its oversight from the fee revenue.
Any producer, distributor or retailer who fails to comply would first get a written warning and then be fined $500 to $1,000 for each subsequent offense, according to the bill.
Hart said that in Ocean County where he lives, he can take unwanted latex paint to a municipal hazardous waste collection point where it is picked up by the county at an annual cost of some $200,000.
Under the proposed reform, there would be collection sites within 15 miles of 90% of all New Jersey residents; a site will be established for every 30,000 people. Collection sites would include hardware stores that would be incentivized to participate by attracting can donors who may then become customers, Hart said.
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After months of lobbying, the clean energy industry secured minimal tax credit extensions in the $1.37 trillion end-of-year deal U.S. lawmakers eked out this week to fund the government in 2020.
Of the possible extensions that may have been stuffed into the spending bill, wind was the only winner, and the industry secured just one extra year of incentives.
If the full deal wins congressional passage, as is expected, wind developers can now qualify for the production tax credit through 2020 — a year longer than anticipated. Developers qualifying projects in 2020 will receive 60 percent of the PTC if they bring those projects online by the end of 2024. Projects qualified in 2019 will still receive only 40 percent of the incentive.
That will benefit onshore wind developers at a time when their market would otherwise be under pressure. However, offshore wind developers, who typically opt for the Investment Tax Credit, would not get the same boost.
Meanwhile, lawmakers left solar— the industry that most aggressively fought for an extension of its ITC — and electric vehicles out of the deal. Storage, which lawmakers had sought incentives for in legislation like the November GREEN Act, will continue without credits.
What was billed as the opening of the state’s newest community solar project became a monumental day in New York solar history. The installation, a 6.12 MW project developed by ForeFront Power in Mechanicville, put New York at over 2 GW of solar installed. The Empire State has now become the 9th in the country to have more than 2 GW of solar capacity installed.
The milestone also keeps New York on track to achieve the statewide target of installing 6 GW of solar by 2025.
“Solar energy is a vital part of New York’s Green New Deal strategy to transition to a clean energy future, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “The success of this initiative demonstrates we are on the path to meeting our nation-leading climate goals, and our clean energy agenda is spurring economic growth and jobs while leaving this planet cleaner and greener for generations to come.”
New York is in an especially interesting spot as it positions itself as a national solar leader. While nearly every state within the “2 GW installed” club is home to massive utility-scale projects, New York’s greatest potential lies in distributed generation. The state has no shortage when it comes to rooftops, a resource that is currently being used to develop a a 316 MW / 2528 MWh (that’s 8 hours) energy storage facility (pdf). Furthermore, a study done by City University of New York early in the decade found that 66.4% of all rooftops in New York city were suitable for solar installations, totaling well over 5 GW in capacity.
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KEASBEY – Fire officials were still on the scene of a massive six-alarm fire at the Bayshore Recycling Center on Crow Mills Road on the morning of Dec. 17, according to John Hagerty, director of communications for Woodbridge Township.
“The fire started in the cardboard recycling area of the facility,” he said, adding the fire then spread to the single-stream area, a separate facility, which has since collapsed. The fire also damaged the corporate office.
NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J.
The Keasbey Fire Department is the lead agency handling the fire investigation. The fire call came in around 12:20 p.m. on Dec. 16. Hagerty said the mayor’s office was notified around 12:33 p.m. Smoke from the fire could be seen from the Driscoll Bridge and Garden State Parkway.
Multiple fire agencies assisted in the fire including all nine fire districts in all sections of Woodbridge, Perth Amboy, South Amboy and Sayreville. Hagerty said the New York City Fire Department sent two fireboats to assist from the Arthur Kill.
There were no injuries reported and the Woodbridge Department of Public Works facility, which is next to the Bayshore Recycling Center, was not damaged, Hagerty said.
After years of delay, Legislature unanimously passes a bill requiring soil and fill recyclers to register for licenses, adds more background checks for employees
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
It took nearly a decade, but a long battle to close loopholes to keep criminal elements out of the recycling industry has finally been passed by the Legislature.
The legislation (A-4267) was drafted in the wake of a 2011 report from the State Commission on Investigation, which indicated that widespread dumping of contaminated debris and toxic-tainted soil across New Jersey had been standard practice for years.
The bill, which kicked around in the Legislature for years, would expand the number of people in the sector who would have to submit more stringent background checks if they wanted to participate in an industry that dumps soil and recycling materials in New Jersey.
The Assembly passed the bill, sending it to the governor in a near-unanimous vote (75-0-1) that belied its past history. There was no debate on the bill.
Driving out bad actors
In the past, the measure had been held up over concerns from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the recycling sector about expanding the scope of a tough licensing law designed to drive the mob and criminal elements out of the solid- and hazardous-waste industries.
The original SCI report, amplified by other studies, documented schemes in which contaminated fill and construction debris were dumped as clean fill. In one case, a so-called dirt broker dumped tons of contaminated soil and debris in Old Bridge, polluting portions of Raritan Bay.
“These unscrupulous dirt brokers are dumping contaminated soil all over the environment,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
The illicit dumping has continued to recent days, according to advocates.
In Vernon, a property owner created an illegal dump in his backyard that resulted in a 75-foot pile of toxic debris. In October, a judge ordered the property owner’s assets and bank accounts be frozen to pay for the cleanup.
“There are bad actors contaminating our environment with debris containing cancer-causing agents and they are able to do so by passing off themselves as recyclers who are not currently subject to the same oversight,’’ said Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Sussex), a sponsor. “They are literally doing dirty work and we’ve got to clean things up.’’
Assemblyman John McKeon, a Democrat from Essex County and another sponsor, agreed. “Solid waste operators out of New York are showing up in our state because they know they can get away with almost anything and their continued illegal activity poses an incredible threat to our residents,’’ he said.
Under the bill, soil- and fill-recycling businesses have 90 days from date of enactment to apply to the DEP for a temporary registration. They must apply for a license for soil and fill within 270 days. It also requires more background checks for more employees in the solid-waste industry.
